Fixture: (9) Pablo Carreno Busta vs Norbert Gombos
Date: 5 November 2020
Tournament: Rolex Paris Masters 2020
Round: Third round (Round of 16)
Venue: Paris, France
Category: ATP Masters 1000
Surface: Indoor hardcourt
Prize money: €3,901,015
Live telecast: USA – ESPN / Tennis Channel | India – Sony Six / Sony Liv
Pablo Carreno Busta has had a fabulous time on tour over the past 12 months, reaching the semifinals of the US Open, the quarterfinals of the French Open, and the semifinals in Rotterdam.
Carreno 29-year-old is currently ranked No. 15 in the world, and still has an outside chance of qualifying for its season-ending ATP Finals in London. Carreno Busta’s next opponent is the 30-year-old Norbert Gombos, that cried at No. 80 in the rankings in 2017. After falling from the top 250 in October 2018, Gombos has managed to push his position up to his current place of No. 105 with a string of decent results.
Pablo Carreño Busta beats Jan Lennard Struff 7-6(3), 6-2 to reach the last 16 in Paris, where he will face Norbert Gombos.
Carreño keeps his London chances alive as well. (Looking good to be an alternate, at least…)
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) November 3, 2020
This year, the Slovak has reached the quarterfinals of Montpellier, the second round of the US Open, and the third round of the French Open. Gombos conquer David Goffin at the next round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday and looks set to break back to the top 100 for this conduct.
Pablo Carreno Busta vs Norbert Gombos head-to-head:
Pablo Carreno Busta and Norbert Gombos have fulfilled once about the official ATP tour, together with Gombos top the head-to-head 1-0. The Slovak won their Round of 32 encounters at Montpellier in 3 places earlier this year, just prior to the tennis shutdown.
Pablo Carreno Busta vs Norbert Gombos prediction:
Pablo Carreno Busta loves playing on hard courts and is always ready for a struggle from the baseline. After losing his first match in the European Open and his next game at last week’s Vienna Open, the Spaniard has enrolled two great wins this week at the Paris Masters – over Hugo Gaston and Jan-Lennard Struff.
This is the 5th time in his career that Norbert Gombos wins 2 consecutive ATP Main draw matches.
4 of those 5 times he won those back to back matches in France:
-2017 Marseille
– 2020 Montpellier
-2020 Roland Garros
-2020 Paris Bercy#RolexParisMasters— Steph Trudel (@TrudelSteph) November 3, 2020
Carreno Busta should be motivated to build on this and make a deep run in the last Experts 1000 event of this season. Norbert Gombos has also put in some decent performances that week. After winning two matches in qualifying, he beat Marco Cecchinato and No. 8 seed David Goffin in the primary draw – both in straight sets.
Gombos, who had never won an Expert’s main draw match before this week, enjoys playing aggressively when he has the chance to. But he is not likely to overwhelm Carreno Busta together with his power, particularly given the Spaniard’s defensive abilities. The Slovak will have to play his absolute best tennis to find past Carreno Busta on Thursday, but this is easier said than done.
Prediction: Pablo Carreno Busta to win in straight sets.
